EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. X VIII. . March, 1 DOT. No. 7. 



Breodino- as an art is perhaps as old as agrienltiiro itself; certainly 

 notable results were secured in the early aijes. liut efforts to put 

 breeding on a scientific basis arc very modern. The recent ivpublica- 

 tion of Mendel's discoveries has giveji a £>reat inii)etus to the sys- 

 tematic and thoroMiih study of heredity and its practical bearings on 

 animal and plant production, and there is now active and widespread 

 interest in the subject of breeding in its scientific aspects. 



In this country the movement is being fostered by the American 

 Breeders' Association, whose purpose is stated in its constitution to 

 be " to study the laws of breeding and to promote the improvement 

 of plants and animals by the development of expert methods of breed- 

 ing." This association was organized in 1904, and has held four 

 regular meetings which were largely attended by the leading investi- 

 gators and many practical breeders. The proceedings of the first 

 three meetings have been published in two volumes, and comprise over 

 one hundred and forty addresses and scientific papers relating for the 

 most part to the theory of animal and plant breeding. A synopsis 

 of the fourth meeting, recently held at Columbus, Ohio, is given else- 

 where in this issue (p. ()!):)). Taken together, these reports contain 

 the best that is known in breeding, and furnish a basis for the revis- 

 ion of much that is contained in the treatises now used as text-books 

 in the agricultural colleges. 



The advantages of such an association in promoting and develop- 

 ing investigation in this important subject are very great. The subject 

 is comparatively new as far as systematic investigation is concerned, 

 and we have need of all the light that can come from associated effort 

 and experience. The association has taken up the subject in a system- 

 atic mannei', a large number of committees being authorized at the 

 meeting in 1906 to look after various phases of animal and plant 

 breeding. General problems were assigned to thirteen distinct com- 

 mittees, while fifteen others were to undertake the study of special 

 problems relating directly to animal breeding, and a like number the 

 problems of plant breeding. The membership of these committees 



includes some of the foremost investigators of the country. 



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